Stans Energy can help to restart lithium ores mine in Russia

Under the terms of the MOU, Stans Energy and Pervomayskiy GOK have agreed on consideration for the possible development of the stockpile, re-commissioning of the mill and the addition of a lithium carbonate production facility. After preliminary evaluation of the in-house Technical Economic Assessment (the TEA) prepared by Pervomayskiy GOK according to Russian standards in 2015, Stans confirms its intention of conducting due diligence on the stockpile of lithium bearing mineralization, the renovation of the mill and the development of a process circuit for producing lithium carbonate, all according to NI 43-101 standards.

The stockpile and mill are associated with the historic mining operations from the Zavitinsky Lithium and Beryllium Mine, which is about 250 km from Chita City, located in the Trans-Baikal Region of Russia. A full array of infrastructure is available near the stockpile and mill including: electricity generating power station and substation, heat and water supply, tailings storage and railways terminals. The mill is directly connected with the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The mine was in production from 1942 through the mid 1990’s, and was the Soviet Union’s only active lithium mine. The mine and mill produced over 100,000 tonnes of lithium in concentrate form over its life span. A cut-off grade of Li₂O of 0.3% was set by the state for mining operations, as the primary use of lithium at that time in the Soviet Union was for military purposes and market economics were not a consideration. The mill produced concentrates of both beryllium and lithium while the mine was in production, and after the mine was closed the mill continued to process fluorite, gold, and antimony ore through to 2010 when it was put under care and maintenance due to a lack of feed material. The stockpile contains according to historic estimates approximately 19,000,000 tonnes of mineralized material grading at or below 0.3% Li₂O, This historical estimate does not constitute a current mineral resource or mineral reserve. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources, Stans Energy is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources.Stans will be confirming both the volume and grade as part of its’ due diligence process. Upon completion of legal and technical due diligence, Stans will carry out a Definitive Feasibility Studyto evaluate the new lithium carbonate production technology developed by VNIIHT (The Russian Leading Institute of Chemical Technology) and to determine the re-commissioning and upgrading costs and timelines of the mill.